Johannesburg – Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has allocated an additional R588 million to four provinces in an effort to speed-up the upgrading of informal settlements and servicing of stands to accelerate the rapid land release programme.
Sisulu allocated R100 million to Gauteng, R200 million to Northern Cape, R138 million to Mpumalanga and R150 million to the Western Cape.
The Minister made a special allocation to the Northern Cape to bolster the province’s vision to clear all informal settlements within the province in the shortest time possible.
“I am convinced it is possible for the Northern Cape to clear the few informal settlements that are there, it is a bold vision for the province to say to us, we want the Northern Cape to be the first province to be informal settlements free. We support that vision and we are giving them R200 million towards that,” Sisulu said on Sunday.
For the other three provinces, the Minister said she is supporting their informal settlements formalisation and land release programmes.
“Gauteng, Western Cape, and Mpumalanga are seeing the fastest growing towns; we are making this allocation to support the upgrading of their informal settlements and release of serviced sites to encourage qualifying beneficiaries to build for themselves,” she said.
The Minister reiterated that provinces need to prioritise fully subsidised government houses for indigents, people living with disabilities, child-headed households and elderly persons, while making serviced stands available for those who can construct for themselves.
“The rapid land release programme must also benefit those whose household income is less than R15 000 per month and provinces must work together with the banking and private sectors, and other stakeholders to service land and make affordable stands available,” Sisulu said.
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